So, while I've been pouring over every news and tabloid site in or about Luxembourg waiting on this "big news" that is supposed to happen this week or next I came across an interesting topic. And, because I actually like to just chit chat about royals and royal related stuff I figured we could entertain ourselves with some talk about what cars our favorite DeLux royal drives. You can tell a lot about a person by what sort of car they choose to drive.

I found the bit in Promi which I KNOW is a tabloid. I know it's a tabloid and we all know it's a tabloid so let's not fixate on that. Like I said, it's something that we can talk about since Luxembourg seems quite these days. This is the bit in Promi that peeked my interest Promi Of course, if I lived in Luxembourg I could buy the magazine and see the pictures of various royals in their car of choice, but I don't.....

I have noticed from pictures of the royals that I have collected that Audi seems to be the brand that they use most often while on offical functions. Guillaume, for example, is always in a black Audi A4. It also seems to be the brand that their security drives behind them. So, I guess it is no surprise that Audi is the brand pictured on the cover.

I think that I can see Felix in the convertible. I can totally picture that being part of his personality, but at the same time not much room to carry sporting equipment like skis. Guillaume seems more responsible like a 4 door sedan type of guy.

Anyone know what kind of car their favorite DeLux royal drives or care to speculate with me?

Ooh, a diversion. Hehe. I've seen videos of the family where they use Audi for their official functions, but I imagine they use something less...formal?...for personal use. The Grand Ducal couple might stick to that though, for personal use.

I can totally imagine Felix in a convertible - my choice would be a BMW or a nice, hot red Ferrari. Yummm.

I can see Alex in something cute and sporty (I don't know why, but I always have this idea of her as being a sporty girl). Or else something really, really fast. I love Volkswagen so I'll 'give' her one.

Guillaume in a Porsche. Or a Jag.

I'm not sure what Louis and Tessy would have, since they have a family to cater for. Might need something bigger as they have more children later.

I actually purchased the Promi that had the article about cars. I purchases several but this one came as a PDF file along with another about which Prince is the black sheep of the family. The others are in the mail. Anyway, I was impressed that even in this lowest of tabloids in Luxembourg that the GD family is treated with a considerable measure of respect even when talking about which of the 3 eldest sons of MT and Henri are the "loner, playboy and rebel" while talking about "early tires" (I haven't gotten all the way thru that article yet but it is rather interesting so far). Anyway.....

It seems our dear Felix drives a grey Audi A3. It says he's sporty and it's a sporty car. It also mentions he likes to drive fast and in the summer he likes to speed around in neighboring France. It also praises him for his choice and for being "grounded" and not driving something more luxurious. Although, I think Luxembourgers have a different view on luxury than I do. I read about the A3 and it seems rather luxurious to me. It was funny the article mentions that women already do double takes when they see Felix driving past. I can see Felix in this car it's sporty and super nice which I associate with him.

Louis and Tessy drive a respectable Seat Altea XL. It's energy efficent and roomy for their family. It seems that even the tabloids have a lot of sympathy for Louis' little family. In all the issues I recieved they are spoken of positively and with respect which is not something that the rest of the family always experiences.

MT drives a black Audi A4 Cabrio convertible. I didn't translate what it said about her I just read what I could read with my German. Apparently, it costs around 55,000 Euro and she can often be seen driving with her sunglasses on to and from the city. I believe they say she drives it with perfect style.

Henri drives a black Audi A8 (I hope they get a discount at the local Audi dealership after buying all these) costing around 80,000 Euro. He is praised as being modest in his choice. It states that given his position he could surley drive something twice as expensive and luxurious with no complaints. It praises him for being grounded like Felix. I was really pleased with how the thought that the choices of cars of the family were nice but that they are still modest given their position and the fact that Luxembourg is a wealthy nation. It also mentions that the Audi's of the family come with plenty of luxury.

It also mentions they have an additional Audi A8 (which I always see Guillaume arrive in) and a dark blue Volvo stationwagen that are generally chauffer driven. It says they are modest vehicals and that surely no contraversy can arise from their use of these vehicals either.

I know that they have a black SUV and a fancy Jaguar that are also driven offically. I have saw video footage of Alexandra being driven home from school in the SUV and The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess in the super fancy Jaguar leaving an offical function at the GD palace.

It was funny the article mentions that women already do double takes when they see Felix driving past. I can see Felix in this car it's sporty and super nice which I associate with him.

Louis and Tessy drive a respectable Seat Altea XL. It's energy efficent and roomy for their family. It seems that even the tabloids have a lot of sympathy for Louis' little family. In all the issues I recieved they are spoken of positively and with respect which is not something that the rest of the family always experiences.

I will have accident if I see Felix in car on the same road. I'll so excided that I will finish on the tree. Pathetic.

Maybe tabloids like Louis family becouse they see them happy and together. Maybe there were big scandal at the beginning but now they look happy young marriage with sweet children. And about the rest they can only speculate so they write that they are playboys or gays (I don't know what is worse).

I will have accident if I see Felix in car on the same road. I'll so excided that I will finish on the tree. Pathetic.

Maybe tabloids like Louis family becouse they see them happy and together. Maybe there were big scandal at the beginning but now they look happy young marriage with sweet children. And about the rest they can only speculate so they write that they are playboys or gays (I don't know what is worse).

If Felix drove past me I'm not sure if I'd end up on the curb or if I'd die of heart attack. Either way when I get to Geneva I'll keep an eye open for a grey Audi A3.

I like Louis and Tessy. I'll be happy when she is finally made a Princess.

There was no speculation of any of the Princes being gay in the articles I've read. It was only talking about use of a VIP terminal at the airport, "early tires" of the playboy prince, how one of the princes is a bit of a loner who spends most of his time alone, and how one is a bit of a rebel and likes to do things his own way. I have to translate the articles from Luxembourgish so it's a bit of a slow read for me. But, I assure you the articles are actually written with great degree of respect for each of them without any real disparaging comments about sexuality or anything else. It is, of course, implied that they aren't living the lives of monks but all the articles I've been through are respectable in their treatment of the RF especially considering it is a tabloid. Which isn't shocking, we all knew that the Grand Ducal family is treated with kid gloves by the Luxembourg press.

There was no speculation of any of the Princes being gay in the articles I've read. It was only talking about use of a VIP terminal at the airport, "early tires" of the playboy prince, how one of the princes is a bit of a loner who spends most of his time alone, and how one is a bit of a rebel and likes to do things his own way.

It really irritates me the way some tabloids like to speculate about celebrities' sexuality - it's incredibly disrespectful to both the celebs as well as people who ARE homosexual. They don't speculate that someone is 'possibly heterosexual'! *so angry*

OK, getting off my horal high horse...

So which one is the playboy, the loner and the rebel (although I can't imagine how Promi could possibly know)? And what does 'early tires' mean? Heh, I hope Felix doesn't drive past me while I'm crossing the road...I'll be so stunned, for sure I'll get run over by a bus!

Lalla Meriem, thanks for sharing! Is Luxembourgish quite close to German?

It is a dialect of High German. It is quite similar to German with some French words and some original words. If you can read/speak German you will understand enough Luxembourgish to survive especially if you also speak/read French.

I'm sure Henri will do it once he's decided that Louis and Tessy are together for the long haul. I'm glad to see they've really welcomed her into their family even if she hasn't been given a title yet. Spells good things for additional future daughters-in-law. So, when I marry Felix I can count on being welcomed

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Originally Posted by firelight

It really irritates me the way some tabloids like to speculate about celebrities' sexuality - it's incredibly disrespectful to both the celebs as well as people who ARE homosexual. They don't speculate that someone is 'possibly heterosexual'! *so angry*

The articles aren't speculating about their sexuality. It is certainly implied that all the members of the GD family I've read about are heterosexual but it isn't discussed - at all.

OK, getting off my horal high horse...

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Originally Posted by firelight

So which one is the playboy, the loner and the rebel (although I can't imagine how Promi could possibly know)? And what does 'early tires' mean? Heh, I hope Felix doesn't drive past me while I'm crossing the road...I'll be so stunned, for sure I'll get run over by a bus!

I haven't finished enough of the article to know yet. The article also talks about Prince Jean, the late Prince Robert, Prince Robert, the late Prince Felix, Princess Charlotte and Guillaume, Felix, Louis and Sebastian. I did learn that Prince Felix's best friend is Philippe Dondelinger of RTL other than that not really much else to tell yet.

Thank you Lalla Meriem for the translation of the article. I was wondering, what is meant by their "early tires"?

Well, I have 3 research papers due by Friday so I've actually put away my Luxembourg tabs until they're finished so I've stopped translating the articles for the moment.....

From what I can tell "early tires" is a reference to the late night/early morning exit of a prince (who is not mentioned by name in any part I have read to date) from the company of a friend or from a night club. It wasn't mentioned in a scandalous tone it was just written matter of factly because these are, after all, grown men and nothing negative or salacious seemed to be implied. Like I said, the whole article, thus far, is written in a very passive manner without ever being harsh or critical.

In fact, the parts I have translated of that particular article go on and on about how Henri and MT made their children their priority and are excellent partents. It seems they use scandalous headlines to lure you into reading these articles which are far more flowery than anything I've ever read in a tabloid. I was expecting critical reviews of the cars of the family but I was surprised at how supportive the author was of their choices. Seems to be that the world's only Grand Duchy might actually be the nicest place on earth

I'm sure not all the issues are positive. I did see a head line about MT's bodyguard being investigated for some inappropriate actions taken having to deal with the restoration of Fishbach. But, even the bodyguard is treated with kid gloves talking about how loyal, trust worthy and dependable he has been.

Ah, thank you for patiently answering our queries, Lalla Meriem! Good luck with your papers (3 research papers!! You are one brave person).

I wonder why the Lux press is so super-nice. It does make one wonder, since the tabloid press in many other countries are positively rabid. In those few countries that I know of where royals are treated very gently, either they (royals) have a lot of power and therefore control the press, or else their position is very highly regarded and considered almost sacred so no one dreams of criticising them. But I find it hard to believe that either of those scenarios apply to Luxembourg.

It does seem as though the entire family is very partial to Audi! I might have thought they have some sort of endorsement deal with Audi. Or maybe Promi does, haha. I have to agree that they seem to have an entirely different idea from me about what constitutes a 'luxurious' car. I don't think I'll ever be able to afford an Audi. The only car I can afford I think comes up to only 1/10 of the price of the Audi. *runs off to look for pictures of Felix's car*

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My guess: Guillaume/loner; Felix/playboy (But not in the sense that everyone associates. Only because he is seen more in public in a social setting.);Louis/family man; Sebastian/sporty

I keep reading all over the place that people think Felix is a playboy but if he is he is certainly very good at choosing ladies who aren't interested in becoming famous from association with him, because he's really never been mentioned in connection with anyone long term or short term. I haven't really read more than a very quick glance of the article but it looked like Felix was going to be the serious student/career man, but I could be wrong. I'm diligently off the tabs until Friday, but somehow I can't keep of the forum and news sites The part about Guillaume has a lot of words that are Luxembourgian and are hard for me to read easily without resorting to a Luxembourgish/English directory.

I think that Felix drives a non-flashy car reaffirms my belief that he's just a steller guy who doesn't live the life of a rich playboy prince.

I don't really know anything about Sebastian other than that he is apparently close to Felix. I love that he has a naturally occurring blonde patch in his hair.

Could we please remain the topic of this thread, the cars of the Grand Ducal Family? All posts regarding the presentation of the family in the Luxembourg press should be made in this thread, while general Luxembourg press questions should be made here.

All future responses which are off-topic will be moved to the appropritate thread or deleted.

I think that Felix drives a non-flashy car reaffirms my belief that he's just a steller guy who doesn't live the life of a rich playboy prince.

Ah...but we all know how partial you are to Felix!

Actually, the cars that they use for official functions, are they privately owned personal cars? Or is it a property of the court / state / whatever is the institution that takes care of arranging the GD family's official functions. Fortunately, none of them seem to be car collectors who own a whole fleet of cars - I have a personal prejudice against people who splash money to hoard flashy cars (when they could put the money to much, much better use).

Actually, the cars that they use for official functions, are they privately owned personal cars? Or is it a property of the court / state / whatever is the institution that takes care of arranging the GD family's official functions. Fortunately, none of them seem to be car collectors who own a whole fleet of cars - I have a personal prejudice against people who splash money to hoard flashy cars (when they could put the money to much, much better use).

Yes, I am indeed exceptionally partial to my dear Felix. Granted I haven't actually met him, but I think of him as a super guy who just happens to be smokin hot. Actually, I think all 3 of Henri's sons turned out to be good men which is no small feat in this world.

I believe Felix's A3, MT's Convertible, Henri's A8 and Louis' Altea XL are privately owned vehicles. It is possible that the additional A8 and Volvo are also privately owned.

I'm pretty sure the fancy jaguar and the rolls Royce are state owned, as well as, a few of the other Audi's that they use for official functions.

I agree I think it's great that they drive modest (for their position, still pretty luxurious for me) cars and don't appear to have a fleet of Ferrari and Rolls Royce garaged at their castle.